Get in Gear
by XxMissElxX
Summary: Lani, with her brother and sister, stumbled to Corinth arm in arm. Her brother is left paralyzed and her sister traumatized by the horrors she witnessed; it is up to Lani to support her family. Who is she to decline a job as a Ranger Operator if it helps her family?
1. Prolouge

DISCLAIMER: I do not own RPM, only Lani and OCs

 **Prologue**

"If you can hear my voice, please go no to the domed city of Corinth. It's the only place we can be safe." We stumbled in the middle of a toxic wasteland, my little sister Mele ahead of me while I tried to drag our older brother Koa. "Stay with me man" I ordered him "I'm not losing you too"

"You gotta take care of Mel" he tried

"Shut up, we're almost there" I said. In reality I have no idea where we were. Mom said to keep going straight but honestly we weren't looking so good…

"LANI!" my sister cried as she looked to the skies. Above us fighter planes were soaring high, firing at anything that moves.

"RUN!" I told them, but with my brother's injured leg we were slowed down. Up ahead Mele tripped over a rock and landed on a piece of metal on the ground, slicing her leg open. She crawled behind an abandoned car nearby as Koa pushed me towards her and I immediately went to work on her leg. Ripping a piece off my shirt I wrapped her leg in a makeshift bandage to try and slow the bleeding. I was so focused on Mele I didn't see the fighter plane behind us taking aim. By the time I turned around it was too late. Koa had jumped in front of us and shielded us from the lasers.

"KOA!" we cried. We dragged him behind the car near us and huddled together. His chest was still moving so he was still alive…barely. I took off my shirt leaving me in a grimy tank top and covered the massive burn on his back; I could've sworn I saw bone. Mele had her knees to her chest and rocking herself. When I was done with Koa I came and held Mele in my arms, she was 14 at the time.

For about five minutes we sat there, unsure of what was gonna happen until I heard a bus approaching

"Wait here, if I don't come back in two minutes run like hell" I told here

"What about Koa?" she asked, tears leaving streaks on her dusty face

"If anyone's getting to Corinth it's you" and with that I made appearance known.

I almost cried in relief when I saw it was a school bus "HEY OVER HERE!" I waved my arms.

The bus stopped right in front of me and the driver opened the door.

"Please!" I said "My brother is severely hurt and my sister is terrified"

The man replied in a heavy Scottish accent "All right lass where are they?" he stepped out of the bus and I led him to Mele and Koa. Mele sprang to her feet and gave the stranger a hug, relieved that they were saved.

"Get on the bus" I told her and she sprinted off.

I helped the driver get Koa on board and into a seat, making sure his back was not bothered. "Thank you so much" I said to him

"No problem miss" he smiled

He went back to the driver seat and I sat by my brother to keep an eye on him. Mele sat in the seat across from us and reached over to hold my hand. Suddenly we jerked to a stop. Looking up I saw the driver literally jumping out of his seat to kick a grinder in the chest. The other passengers started panicking but I had enough of those things. I stood up from seat and stormed to the front of the bus, making sure to grab the crowbar conveniently placed by the driver's seat. I struck it once in the head while the driver continued to bash its metal frame. Once he backed off I took the crowbar and shoved it in the Grinders body. It twitched and sparked before collapsing.

The driver wasted no time and continued our journey. "Nice work-"

"Lani; and you are?"

"Flynn"

"Not too bad yourself Flynn."

Within a few minutes we were just outside of Corinth

Flynn opened the door allowing me to throw the Grinder out of the bus "So long you piece of shit" I grumbled as an anxious looking woman stood at the door

"Oh hi," Flynn said behind e to a little girl "This will be your stop little lass"

I stepped aside as he picked her up and handed her to her mother. We were about to enter the city when a man in a military officer appeared "You!" he called, gaining mine and Flynn's attention. "What are you doing behind the wheel of one of our transports?"

"I would be driving it" he said "What else would I be doing?"

"Smartass" I chuckled under my breath

"And you made it through the entire Venjix Army in one piece?" he continued

"Aye" Flynn said as the grate of the bus popped off

"Make that two pieces" I added

"Well you better get in there" he said

"Yes sir" I replied just as another blast hit. Once inside the city Flynn helped me bring Mele and Koa to the first aid. The nurses working there were overrun so I decided to help out

"What are doing?" one of working nurses demanded

"Listen there are thousands of injured civilians right now and only a couple hundred of you. I may not have much experience but I can still help, now you can either let me help or continue complaining when you could be saving a life right now. Your choice" I snapped

The nurse instantly shut up and continued working on another patient. I looked over to my left and saw five or six people working on Koa's back. To my right Mele's leg was being cleaned and bandaged properly.

"Can I get some help?" a voice called

I followed the voice and came face to face with a blond girl and dark haired man with a makeshift sling.

"What's your name?" I asked as I felt his shoulder

"Scott Truman" he winced

"It's dislocated" I said to myself

"What did you say?" he asked

"Oh nothing, so do you come here often?"

"I'm sorry what?" he asked "Is this really a- ARGH!" he screamed as I popped his shoulder in place

"Sorry about that, distraction tends to make it easier to pop things back into place" I shrugged

"It makes it _easier_?" he repeated

"Easy don't mean painless honey" I shrugged. I snatched two bottles of water and tossed it the two of them

"Are you hurt?" I asked the blonde

"No I'm fine, thanks for helping though" she said "I'm Summer by the way"

"Lani" I introduced before rushing to help more people.

At the end of the day Mele and I were sitting by Koa's bed watching him rest. Mele soon fell asleep while sat there and watched the two of them.

"Excuse me Miss?" I heard a voice say. Turning around I saw the man from earlier. "I'm Colonel Truman; I'd like to ask a few questions"

"Of course." I stood up quietly to make sure I didn't wake up either of them and followed the Colonel outside side.

"What's your name?" he asked

"Nalani King Sir"

"Hmmm, well Ms. King, I'd like to thank you for your help earlier today"

"It was no problem really" I said

"Really? Because I just came from speaking with a mister Flynn McAllister and he says that you were mostly responsible for defeating that Grinder in the bus" he grinned

"Well my father taught us all how to defend ourselves."

"How?"

"Well, I did Judo growing up, I was a lifeguard for about five years, and my grandfather was in the Army so he taught me how to handle a weapon" I said honestly

"Interesting, tomorrow, meet me here" he said giving me a card with only an address on it.

I looked back into the emergency center

"You brother and sister will be fine, if you come here tomorrow you can protect them and the entire city"

"Thank you sir" I said and walked back into the room

 **-Next Day-**

I had made up my mind and went to the address written on the card. Walking inside I noticed that it was just a garage.

"Hello?" I called "Colonel Truman?"

Suddenly a door opened and revealed a white lab. Walking in I saw some familiar faces. "Flynn? Scott, Summer? What are you guys doing here?"

"Colonel told us to meet here" Flynn said

"That I did" he said in his booming voice. "You four are to be a part of Dr. K's special team."

"Hello, I am Dr. K" a techno voice sounded

"Whoa what was that?" Summer asked out loud

Behind them a screen blinked on, showing a white screen with a 'K' in the middle.

"As of tonight you four have been hand selected to become Ranger Operators"

Lights shined down on four columns containing brightly coloured suits, numbered 1, 2, 3, and 6 in red, blue, yellow, and pink respectively. All of them noticed numbers 4 and 5 were still in shadow

"What about the other two?" Scott asked

"They will be selected one day, for now you are to be assigned a colour and number" Colonel explained

"Mr. Truman you will become Ranger Operator Series Red and control the Eagle Racer" Dr. K said "And you will lead the Ranger Operators team." Scott tried to hide his smile but pride was radiating off of him

"Mr. McAllister you are now Ranger Operator Series Blue with the Lion Hauler at your disposal"

"Miss Landsdown you will be Ranger Operator Series Yellow and have the Bear Crawler"

"And finally Miss King, you are Ranger Operator Series Pink with the Serpent Speeder in your arsenal." I stared at the pink suit in front of me, a gold serpent in the shape of a six stared back.

"You will live and train in this garage. Your room number will correspond to your Ranger number."

The other three were so excited for their selection; I was a bit more cautious.

"You're hesitant" Dr. K said matter-o-factly

"You wouldn't be?" I asked "My brother is on a hospital bed and I have a fourteen year old sister to worry about"

"Leave me with Series Operator Pink" Dr. K said bluntly

The others left the lab, leaving me alone with the Colonel and Dr. K.

"We are quite aware of your situation" Colonel said "So we have already made arrangements for your family. They will be staying outside the main part of Corinth, out of any potential harm's way. And I have already assigned an around the clock caretaker for your brother and sister."

"What about their families?" I asked referring to the other three.

Colonel looked to the ground "Clearly my son Scott has nothing to worry about, but as it seems, you are the only one who has family to worry about. Flynn's father is here and Summer's parents came here long before she did."

"If it is any consolation all Ranger Operators are paid for their services to Corinth" Dr. K added in a more informative tone rather than reassuring one.

I thought about I for a second, her family would have everything they needed and if that meant sacrificing herself for the city to get them what they needed. God damn her if she didn't take up the offer.

"I'm in"

 _A/N: honestly, i just wanted to get this out here so i can work on it whenever i want. Darkness Awakens is my main priority. XOXOX_


	2. Chapter 1: Beginnings

**Chapter 1: Beginnings**

After that first day of being assigned we were training. But that didn't take any time away from me telling my siblings what I signed up for. Mele, with a heart three times bigger than anyone I have ever known, was so supportive of my decision and told me she would help take care of Koa.

Unfortunately, Koa's wounds were too severe to be healed completely. We found out a few days after arriving to Corinth that he was now paralyzed from the waist down. It broke my heart to tell him when he woke up.

Surprisingly, _he_ was the one who was comforting me. He grabbed both mine and Mele's hands and smiled "Hey, I'm Koa remember? Warrior. We'll get through this"

They were moved to the house Colonel arranged and I moved into the garage with the others.

In my room I found a black leather jacket with three pink stripes on both sleeves. On my back was the same Snake Six as my suit. Slipping it on over my white tank top I stepped out my room to be greeted by the other three, all wearing their own leather jackets.

"Pretty cool huh?" Summer said showing off the number three on her back.

"Very" I smiled.

We were soon given out morphers and Engine Cells, as well as a _very_ extensive lecture from Dr. K on how they were made and how to use them.

"Wait why is mine different?" I asked after realizing mine was meant to wear on my wrist rather than a cell phone like morpher like the others.

"The original plan was to have two teams of three, but since we only have four; those plans are of no use" Dr. K informed

I hummed in thought but didn't bother asking more questions.

 **-One Year Later-**

A whole year went by and the four of us became the best of friends. Koa started harboring a crush for his nurse, Mele was thriving in her new school, and I was so glad I joined the team.

Summer and I became best friends, Flynn was like another brother, and Scott was actually pretty cool when you got to know him.

Summer and I were currently beating the crap out of the boys in a game of pool when Dr. K sounded through the intercom.

"Rangers, head to the city border. There's been a breach"

"We'll continue this later" I said as we ran out the door.

Summer and I ran in front of the boys and we soon found our way to the breach. We skidded to a stop in front of a beat up muscle car and a crowd of Grinders and a new robot. We pulled out our Engine Cells and prepared to morph

"Ready?"

"Ready!"

"RPM! GET IN GEAR!"

I felt the now familiar electric feeling as I raced through the morphing grid. My pink suit molding to my skin. My suit is similar to Summer's in style but while her the cuffs and belt on her suit was silver mine was gold. My visor was a soft edge upside down triangle with two indents to represent fangs while my headlights were in the shape of snake eyes. My gold six displayed across my chest. The four of us stood in front of the car and revved up before bursting into action.

Scott pulled out his Nitro Sword and went to town. Flynn and Summer were easily handling themselves. This was a walk in the park for us, for the past year Dr. K has pushing us to our limits with long training simulations and for once I am actually grateful for those days.

"Hey Lani!" Summer called "Back me up?" I could hear the grin in her voice.

"Right on top of you!" I replied leaping over the Grinders to meet her in the middle of the crowd.

Powering up our Nitro Blasters we took turns rolling on each other's backs and blasting the Grinders around us.

"Girls on your six!" Scott warned. Summer and I flipped over the group of Grinders and blasted from above

We landed on the hood of the car and aimed at the robot. We fired but he leapt out of the way and began to run away.

Turning to wave at the two guys in the car Summer and I hopped off before being greeted by the boys

"You two ok?"

"Yeah" we confirmed

"Let's go!" Scott said and we dashed after the robot

We cornered him in an empty warehouse and pressed the center button on our belts.

Flynn had his Turbo Cannon, Scott and his Street Saber, Summer's Zip Charger, and my Gear Staff; a white bo staff decked out with multiple functions which allow me to fire lasers and create shields.

We ran full speed towards the robot and raised our weapons to prepare for battle.

A/N: So this chapter is REALLY short but I promise, not all chapters will be this short. I just used most of episode 1 for the prolouge. Anyway, make sure to check out my **Darkness series** and REVIEW and FOLLOW! XOXOX


	3. Chapter 2: New Friends

**Chapter 2: New Friends**

"STREET SABER STRIKE!" Scott called, knocking our opponent into the metal barrels

"TURBO CANNON FIRE!" Flynn followed

Summer was next "ZIP CHARGER, ACTIVATE!"

Finally it was my turn, I leapt into the air and pushed the red button on the side "GEAR STAFF, ENGAGE!" as one of its many functions, a blade protruded from the top allowing me to lodge it in a break of the robots armor. With the added strength from my suit I was able to lift it high in the air and toss it outside once again.

He followed it and saw it sprawled in front of the black muscle car. The two passengers inside stepped out; from the driver's side a tall, brooding figure stood and on the other side a scrawny, wild-haired civilian was staring with excitement

"Finish him off" I urged

"Combine weapons!" Scott commanded

The three primary coloured rangers combined their weapons to create the Road Blaster while I stood behind them. I watched as they took him down as a team, a little bummed that my own weapon didn't work with theirs. The robot shut down and we believed the battle to be over.

"Not done yet guys" I said, looking to the sky. Hundreds of Venjix Drones covered the artificial sky.

"Rangers, this is Dr. K" we heard through our helmets. "Do you have a visual on the incoming targets?"

"Uh, that's affirmative" Scott offered

"Kinda hard to miss…" I added

The Drones began firing upon Corinth and my mind immediately went to Mele and Koa, wondering if they knew what was happening, if Mel was having another episode or not…

"Rangers," Dr. K's voice pulling me out of my thoughts "I'm down-morphing the Zord Attack Vehicles to you. Stand By"

"Hit us Doc!" Scott said

Pulling out our Engine Cells we called upon our respective Zords

"Activating Eagle Zord!"

"Activating Lion Hauler!"

"Activating Bear Crawler!"

"Activating Serpent Speeder!"

The six on my chest glowed before showing my zord, a train looking zord that was much longer than the others.

"We're in!" we all called and set into motion.

"Attack Formation Delta!" Scott commanded and we all followed his direction

"Watch those blasters Red!" I warned as he fell into heavy fire

"Pink on your six!" Flynn yelled

"On it!" my zords fluid, snake-like movements dodging lasers

"Going airborne!" Scott said, within seconds Scott's bright red zord was flying overhead "Blue! Clear a path for Yellow!" he said when he landed

"I'm on it!" Flynn easily rolled over the Drones in his path allowing Summer to drive ahead

"Yellow! You're taking fire from your 3 o'clock!"

"Tell me something I don't know!"

"Got your back!" I reassured "Serpent Speeder, Venom Strike!" I commanded. My zord opened it's 'mouth' and fired bright pink lasers at the Drones

Suddenly a flurry of lasers fired into the sky from the ground below, hitting the Drones hovering over Summer "Whoa did you see that!" I cried

"Grinders Neutralized, Enemy Attack Wave Alpha is Contained" Scott reported

"Thank you…whoever you are" Summer was heard through the com-link

"We've still got Grinders coming in from the North" Flynn reminded

"It's never over isn't it?" I sighed

"Not for long!" Summer cheered, launching herself into the sky and chomping down on the Drones

"Enemy retreating in all fronts" Scott stated proudly just as the city shields were restored and the city gates were sealed

But alas, we still weren't done as the robot from earlier grew into a monstrous size

"Rangers! Form High Octane Megazord!" Scott said

And once again, I stepped back and allowed the primary three to combine. Though I do have to be honest, as much as it kinda sucked to have to sit on the sidelines it was pretty tight watching the megazords form.

With their combined powers the battle was won in a matter of minutes and soon the enemy was destroyed.

"So can Summer and I beat your asses at pool now?" I asked

I heard the laughter of my teammates before we leapt back down to the ground. We removed the helmets from our heads and I placed my little fake flower behind my ear, a gift from Mel, before we noticed a certain yellow ranger was gone. When we found her she was standing in front of the two civilians from the car as they were dragged off by soldiers.

"What happened here?" I asked pulling my dark wavy hair from its ponytail, it was giving me a headache. I got no answer however; Summer just kept staring at the brooding guy getting arrested.

At the garage Summer and Flynn were scanning wreckage from the battle in the back of Flynn's hummer.

"So what are we looking at here Doc?" Scott asked the white computer screen

"Something different, radically advanced," he informed "Venjix technology is now evolving at an exponential rate. If we don't upgrade the firepower in our zord configurations, Venjix will overrun the city in a month"

"Well we still have two zords waiting to be used." I reminded from my spot on the top of the Hummer "C'mon Doc, I'm tired of just _watching_ them have all the fun"

"She has a point," Flynn agreed "We have to activate Series Black. Th-there's no way around it"

Scott turned to him "Yes but we don't have an Operator that can handle the Series Black Bio Hardware. Where are we supposed to find one now?"

The two boys walked away leaving me and Summer. The said ranger had a thoughtful look on her face. Hopping down from the top I stood beside her

"Who do you have in mind?"

She gave me a look before grabbing her helmet

"Scott is not gonna like this" I sighed before grabbing my keys to my baby, my white 1999 JEEP Wrangler

 **-Prison-**

We met at the prison where we knew the two civilians from earlier were being held and were led to where the taller guy was being interrogated

"So, we can also assume these robotic upgrades provide you with enhanced physical abilities?" General Truman questioned rhetorically "Extra strength, improved-" he knocked his cup over which was easily caught by the 'prisoner' "-reflexes" Summer beamed and I nodded in approval

"You can see my problem here," Colonel sighed "I mean, how am I supposed to know if you're a human that's part machine. Or a machine that's part human?"

"Maybe you should flip a coin" he suggested with his hands behind his head

"You know when it comes down to it; you can side with us. Or you can side with them."

"I side with myself…every time"

"Colonel?" Summer sounded "Can we please have a minute?"

With a nod of his head the Colonel and his partner exited the cell and allowed us to speak with him.

We sat down in front of him as he leaned forward in his chair staring at Summer "Alone at last"

"Okay am I invisible or something?" I mumbled to myself loud enough for Summer to hear causing her to crack a smile

"Can I be honest with you?" he continued

"Give it a shot" Summer replied

"Yellow is definitely not your colour"

It was my turn to try and stop from giggling

"Can we ask you a question?" I offered

"Let's hear it Pinky"

I locked my jaw for a second before returning to the topic at hand "Do you have to work really hard at the whole brooding, bad boy act you got goin on?"

"Honestly though," Summer joined "Do you get up every morning and practice in the mirror?"

He smiled a little, a genuine smile

"I'm Summer, this is my friend Lani"

"Dillon. You can call me Dillon"

"So he _does_ have a name" I teased

"Can I ask you another question Dillon?" Summer continued

Dillon rolled his eyes with a frustrated sigh "Look I'm telling you people the truth. I don't know who I am or where I came from."

"No one is asking where you came from" Summer said softly before pulling out a pocket watch and holding it out to him. It was playing a soft melody. She must've picked it up from earlier "We wanna know where you're going"

She closed the pocket watch and set down in front of him. "Nice meeting you Dillon"

We walked out of the cell and when we were just about to head back I nudged her by her bike "He was totally checking you out" I teased

"Oh shut up" she laughed

"I swear he was, he may be part robot but the guy's still human" I laughed

"Shut up Nalani" she laughed before placing her helmet back on. I was still laughing when I hopped in my JEEP.

 **-Garage-**

Summer and I walked into the garage and called the boys in.

"What's up?" Scott asked

"Summer may have found us an operator for Series Black" I said cautiously

Scott, being the ever so suspicious Red Ranger he is asked "Who?"

Summer had pulled up his records on the screen "His name is Dillon"

Doctor K had appeared and was looking through the records himself

"So he's a machine though isn't he?" Flynn concluded

"Technically he's a human equipped with cybernetic modifications" Doc cleared

" _Technically_?" Blue repeated "Now, I'm just a simple mechanic, I'm not a scientist but I'm lookin and seeing metal, I'm seeing bolts, and I'm seeing circuitry alright. Now if that is not a machine, I dunno what is"

Summer shook her head "There's more to him than that" she argued

"I gotta agree guys" I pitched in "When we were talking to him he seemed more…human than just some robot"

"Scott," Dr. K said "You're team leader, this is your call"

"Look, I honestly hope you know what you're doing with this I really do. Because I _cannot_ see anything impressive about this guy at all." Our leader said sternly before walking away

Our blue soon followed him with a quick pat on Summer's shoulder, leaving us girls behind. Summer looked after them in disappointment while blew air through my nose, unsure about how we were going to get through to him.

Summer and spent the next hour or so trying to find anything on this Dillon guy, but since he rolled into the city not 24 hours ago we ended up with zip. Finally, in our last bit of hope we checked security footage of the prison. We hit the jackpot.

We showed the boys and Dr. K the recordings of Dillon's prison fight and the reactions were exactly as we planned

"Sweet Mother Molasses" Flynn breathed

Summer stopped the video

"Impressive enough for you?" I asked Scott smugly, a smirk gracing my tan face

He sighed in defeat, a signal that this Dillon guy was going to be a Series Operator.

 **-Later-**

 **-Prison-**

Summer and I led Scott and Flynn to the interrogation cell where we first met Dillon.

"Dillon," Summer greeted "This is Scott."

"Scott Truman, Team Leader" he stated proudly

"And this is-" she continued

"Flynn. Just plain Flynn"

"There's someone else we want you to meet" I said "The one behind all the Ranger technology you see."

Flynn pulled out a sleek laptop and Doc's signature white screen appeared "Greetings Dillon, I am Doctor K"

He scoffed "Man, I thought _I_ was weird. You guys, beat me by a mile. Dr. K? That's too much, you guys are just…"

"The only chance you have of ever getting out of this place" Scott finished

"And what do I have to do? Buy a ticket in your little freak show?"

"Are _we_ really the freaks here?" I asked sarcastically "I mean _we're_ not the ones with circuits in our bodies"

"Commentary aside," Summer said nudging me hard in the ribs "You have to join us"

"So, what's it gonna be Dillon? Are you in? Or are you out?" Scott questioned

"Well now that all depends" he sighed "Do I get to pick my own colour?"

 **-Later-**

 **-Home-**

With Dillon set to be released the next day and no more assignments to do I bid farewell to my team and drove home. Colonel Truman clearly looked into our background as the safe house he assigned us was located by the artificial beach. I pulled up to our small house and walked in to find Mele sitting on our couch with her homework sprawled in front of her.

"Hey Mel, just checking in" I greeted

"Lani!" she cried

"Hey kid" I chuckled "Alright there?"

"I saw the Drones I-I thought something happened and then you didn't come by and then-"

"Mel, Mel" I coaxed "Calm down ok, I'm here" the poor girl was shaking

"Is that my little sister?" I heard Koa

"Right here bro"

I held Mele under my arm and walked into his room. he was already lying down in his bed, his nurse Sam helping him get ready for bed. When she left we spent this rare free time talking to each other. We calmed Mele down from having another episode and teased Koa about his crush on Sam, and for a split second everything felt normal.

A/N: More King Family moments coming up soon, just tryna build up the setting at whatever. make sure to check out the **Darkness Series** and REVIEW and FOLLOW! XOXOX


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